Tesla Model Y powers down after charging attempt at Wawa

A Tesla Model Y owner says her car shut down after plugging in at a Wawa charger. The incident, shared on TikTok and reported by InsideEVs, raised safety questions.

A fast-charging stop is usually just a brief pause in a trip. For Tesla Model Y owner Emma Renee, however, plugging in at a newly opened Wawa charging station turned into a disturbing experience. According to her account, the car still showed around 110 miles of remaining range when she connected the charger, but within seconds a warning appeared and the vehicle began powering down.

In a TikTok video that quickly went viral, Renee described how the car’s systems became almost completely unresponsive. Screens went dark, door locks stopped working, and even the button to open the door failed. For a short time, she and her 15-year-old son were unable to exit the vehicle, and later found themselves locked out as well.

The online discussion soon shifted away from fears of a sudden loss of driving range and toward the technical layout of modern electric vehicles. As many commenters pointed out, incidents like this are typically linked not to the main high-voltage battery, but to a failure in the low-voltage electrical system. That system powers critical functions such as door locks, control modules, and infotainment, meaning a fault can leave a vehicle effectively “dead” even when the main battery is fully charged.

Renee later said that technicians at a Tesla service center attributed the shutdown to a charging-port fault that affected the low-voltage system, rather than a spontaneous failure of the main battery. The car was ultimately towed, and several components were replaced during the repair.

Another heavily debated aspect of the incident involved emergency door releases, especially for rear-seat passengers. Tesla vehicles do include mechanical emergency releases, but in the rear doors they are concealed inside door pockets or behind trim panels. Owners noted that while the feature exists, it can be difficult to locate quickly under stress, adding to the sense of danger during an unexpected power loss.

There is currently no evidence of a widespread defect or a systemic problem tied specifically to Wawa charging stations. Instead, the episode is being viewed as a rare example of a cascading electrical failure that triggered a protective shutdown. Still, the story has reignited conversations about owner education, the clarity of fail-safe features, and the level of trust drivers place in both vehicles and charging infrastructure.

The situation ended without injuries and with a repaired car, but its impact extends beyond a single parking lot. Viral moments like this shape public perception, highlighting how even uncommon technical failures can feel alarming when they challenge basic expectations of control and access in increasingly software-dependent vehicles.